Live Review: Mia Wray @ Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane

Mia Wray

Last night, Mia Wray took the stage in the intimate, crowded Black Bear Lodge in Brisbane, the first stop on her When We Were Young tour.

Initially planned to play one show in Brisbane, the gig quickly sold out, and she added a second show to the ticket, which has also sold out. The atmosphere was familiar and supportive, with Wray at home on the stage as she riffed with the audience and danced to the tracks that have earned her nominations for the 2025 ARIA Awards’ Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist, and Rolling Stone Australia Awards’ Best New Artist.

The venue was a far cry from the enormous stadiums Wray played at earlier this year during Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour, where she and Vance Joy were the support.

During her set, the Melbourne-native Wray said that she had performed for a little-known artist “that you probably haven’t heard of, Ed Sheeran? Good on him, he’s doing his best.” She asked who had gone to one of his shows, and the audience cheered, almost immediately followed by a fan yelling, “We loved you before that, Mia!” This was met with louder cheering than her original questions.

The Music spoke with Wray while she was touring with Sheeran, and she talked about how surreal it was to be playing these shows and how she would be switching gears from a full stadium of 55,000 to a snug 200.

“Doing a stadium show and having that kind of energy that you're trying to bring to a stadium – everything's bigger, your movements, your interactions are a bit different, and then bringing that vibe. I'm so interested to see how that translates into a crowd of, like, 200 people. I'm really excited. I love those venues. They've always treated me so well,” Wray told The Music in February.

Having seen Wray play at stadiums around Australia and now at Black Bear Lodge, she has seamlessly translated her style and raw nature to a smaller venue, with the feeling of being invited into her inner circle. At times, there seemed to be a two-way conversation between the artist and the some 250 people in attendance. Audience participation is always at the artist's discretion and in their style, but Wray’s approach felt totally authentic.

Wray played music from her 2025 debut album, Hi, It’s Nice To Meet Me, as well as her new single When We Were Young which came out a few months ago. The latter was the standout of the show, with the themes of nostalgia, friendship and change resonating. 

Not Enough was another great performance by Wray and her band, with the bouncy track carrying so much emotion for Wray, who once attributed the song to her “gay awakening”.

Where I Stand was a far slower and moving performance, with Wray on the keyboard for this emotive ballad. Her ability to produce fun, feel-good anthems and then shift gears to something more introspective is very impressive, especially given that she has only released one album so far and is a relatively new artist.

There’s an argument that artists are becoming more private, but Wray is unapologetically open and honest, even bringing her supporters on the journey as she explores her sexuality on her Hi, It’s Nice To Meet Me.

Visibility and honesty in this area of her life have clearly ingratiated many people with her, as she candidly discusses on stage what her first situationship did to her and her brain. It all feels relatable and endearing, as if we are figuring this out together. The good news is that there is more of this to come down the pipeline, with Wray telling The Music that she is not done exploring this.

“Thematically, that's woven through the record a lot [friendship], and then there's a song that's still kind of touching on exploring queerness for the first time. It's such a big thing to go through. You can't just write one of them about it and be like, oh yeah, I'm done with that. There's so much to be unpacked,” Wray told us in February.

“I just know that there are so many people who are going to feel that so deeply, so there's a bit of that,” said Wray.

The tour continues next week with two shows in Melbourne (one of them sold out), and then wraps up in Sydney. Some tickets are still available.